The Chintz Room Makes a Comeback

Monday

Jan 27, 2014 at 12:01 AMJan 27, 2014 at 9:06 PM

Serial restaurateur Elizabeth Lessner is at it again. This time, she's bringing back an old favorite. Lessner (the mind behind Betty's, Surly Girl and Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails, to name a few) and Mike Hermick (maker of Zapico pasta sauces) have partnered to reinvent The Chintz Room, the ladies' lunch destination inside the Downtown Lazarus department store for decades until it closed in 1998. Set to open this summer in the renovated Lazarus building, the modern-day eatery will be Italian-leaning, but a handful of classic Chintz Room menu items, like the famed celery dressing, will reappear. Hermick is experimenting with the chicken salad sandwich and the bourbon bread pudding, which will likely include bananas this time around. And because the old Chintz Room was "all about tea," Hermick says, they're working with Stauf's Coffee Roasters in Grandview to develop an original brew for the new one. "We'll pay as much homage and respect to The Chintz Room as we can while bringing it into 2014," he says.

Serial restaurateur Elizabeth Lessner is at it again. This time, she’s bringing back an old favorite. Lessner (the mind behind Betty’s, Surly Girl and Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails, to name a few) and Mike Hermick (maker of Zapico pasta sauces) have partnered to reinvent The Chintz Room, the ladies’ lunch destination inside the Downtown Lazarus department store for decades until it closed in 1998. Set to open this summer in the renovated Lazarus building, the modern-day eatery will be Italian-leaning, but a handful of classic Chintz Room menu items, like the famed celery dressing, will reappear. Hermick is experimenting with the chicken salad sandwich and the bourbon bread pudding, which will likely include bananas this time around. And because the old Chintz Room was “all about tea,” Hermick says, they’re working with Stauf’s Coffee Roasters in Grandview to develop an original brew for the new one. “We’ll pay as much homage and respect to The Chintz Room as we can while bringing it into 2014,” he says.